Characters: Laurence the first Vicar/Ludwig the Holy Blade

Summary: Halfbeast Laurence has gotten beaten up while going out. Ludwig is there to take care of him in his pain.

(Author's note: This is another scenario that is set in what I call the "Schism AU", the AU in which Laurence found the cure last minute and now tries to get people off the blood, but alas, he has been horribly slandered and nobody gives a damn about what he has to say anymore.)

When Laurence hadn't returned in time for dinner, Ludwig had started to grow worried. He had been against it anyway, that Laurence would go out, but Laurence had insisted that he wanted to distribute the cure for the scourge to the population before more people had to die. Ludwig hadn't been able to argue with him.

Ludwig had waited for an hour longer, being assured by Amelia and Florence that Laurence probably just had forgotten the time, like always, but he had that bad feeling in his guts and so he had went and searched for him. His intuition had been right, because Ludwig found Laurence in an alley, badly hurt, barely conscious, seemingly having been beaten up by one or several blunt objects.

Ludwig carefully had lifted Laurence up and brought him back to Odeon Chapel, where Amelia had taken care of his wounds as best as she could. His life wasn't in danger, but he would be bedridden for at least a few days. Shortly after the last of his wounds had been patched up, Laurence had fallen into an uneasy sleep. Ludwig had been too worried to sleep himself, so he had kept guard at Laurence' bedside, watching over his beaten up body. Whoever had hurt him, had not only inflicted countless bruises and scratches on him, but went even so far as to break his arm, the one that was still human. Ludwig's face darkened when he thought about what Laurence had to endure.

Laurence awoke not much later and Ludwig had helped to the tiny bathroom of the chapel to clean up and once Laurence was back into bed, Ludwig went to prepare breakfast, a simple oatmeal because Laurence didn't look like he was able to eat solid food. His face had gotten the brunt of the attack. It was a miracle that no teeth were missing.

When Ludwig returned to Laurence, he was just lying there, staring at the ceiling. Ludwig's gaze fell at one of his antlers, the left one had broken off. However, it probably would just grow again. Trying to get rid of his antlers had been one of the first thing Laurence had tried once he noticed that he turned, but they just had grown back.

"Laurence.", Ludwig said, noticing that Laurence' eyes fixated on him, "I brought you some food."

"...don't want any...", Laurence whispered, it pained Ludwig to hear just how much even talking seemed to strain Laurence. "...not hungry."

"Are you feeling nauseous?", Ludwig asked, sitting down in the chair next to Laurence' bed. It wouldn't surprise him, he probably had some kind of concussion.

"...no...", Laurence answered, gaze shifting back to the ceiling.

"I don't want to force you to eat, but your injuries won't get better if you starve yourself.", Ludwig said. "Would you be willing to at least try?"

Laurence was silent for a few seconds before speaking, his voice quivering: "I... I can't... right... now..."

Ludwig stood up from the chair and sat down at the edge of the bed instead, stroking over Laurence' hair, carefully avoiding to jostle the wounds. "Laurence, do you want to tell me what happened to you?", Ludwig asked, making sure that he left it as an option. That he wouldn't force Laurence to do or say anything that made him uncomfortable.

"Ludwig... hold me, please...", Laurence said and raised his left arm, the beastly one, the one that wasn't broken. Ludwig gently took the claws in his own hand, making sure that he wouldn't cut himself at them and helped Laurence up, until he rested comfortable in his embrace, even though he still was wincing and scrunched up his face. He must have been in so much pain...

"I am there for you, Laurence.", Ludwig just said, waiting. If Laurence just wanted to be held, he would sit there and held him until he was satisfied.

"I.. I tried...", Laurence suddenly spoke, his voice on the verge of tears. "I tried to convince them... to take the cure, but..." Ludwig heard Laurence sniffle and stroked over his hair again, hoping that he would calm down, but it was all in vain.

Laurence buried his face in Ludwig's chest and he could feel the wetness on his face growing, as he half mumbled and half screamed: "Nobody believed me! They all told me that I should get lost, I had done enough damage! I... I tried... I tried so hard to explain them what the blood did, that they shouldn't take it anymore, but they... they believed that slander, that I gave them tainted blood! They.. they didn't believe at all that all blood is tainted, that it will turn them, sooner or later, and..."

Laurence trailed off while sobbing and choking violently. Ludwig gently rubbed his back, hoping that he could ease some of the pain. Emotional and physical. Having to see Laurence in that state killed him, but he couldn't let through how much it affected him. Laurence needed him to be strong in his moment of weakness, so he blinked away his tears, both of sadness and anger, how much he wished he could punish the ones who had hurt Laurence.

"...They started with throwing rocks...", Laurence nearly whispered. "One hit me in the head and I started bleeding. Worse is, once they started to throw more, my disguise got blown off. Everybody could see what I had become and... then they directly attacked me. With sticks... and kicks... and such."

"...Why haven't you fought back, Laurence?", Ludwig asked. While Laurence never had been the most strong person in the world, he certainly knew how to wield a trick weapon and his half transformation had given him something of a power boost. He certainly was able to toss a person through half of the room, if he would slap them with this beastly arm of his.

"They are still my people! I couldn't hurt them!", Laurence yelled and for the first time since Ludwig had cradled him into his arms, looked at his face, tears still streaming out of his blue eyes. "The beast... inside of me... tried to get out, but I didn't let it. I couldn't hurt them. Then they would have lost their trust completely!"

Laurence pressed his head back at Ludwig's chest and just wailed. He didn't say a single word anymore and it became harder and harder for Ludwig to contain his own tears, being pretty sure that at some point he failed and they dripped down his face as he imagined how he would like to punish anyone who had hurt Laurence, even though he hadn't fought back. Ludwig knew that Laurence would never let him, but he just had to direct his anger somewhere. Laurence didn't deserve any of that. There he was, trying desperately to fix his mistake, after having suffered so much, and nobody took him serious.

"We will show them, Laurence.", Ludwig growled. "We will make them see."

It took an awful long time for Laurence to calm down, but when he finally did, his breathing had evened out and he had fell asleep again. Ludwig carefully tucked him back in bed and took the now cold oatmeal back to the kitchen, to warm up later. He then went back to Laurence' bed and put a glass of water on his night stand, Laurence surely would be thirsty once he woke up.

Ludwig then sat back down on the chair and watched over Laurence' sleep, his mind uneasy. He would make them understand and if it was the last thing he was doing. He never wanted to see Laurence in this state ever again.

(Author's note: Guess who made herself cry while writing this?)